US stocks end mixed, all eyes on US-China trade talks

New York, Feb 12 (UITV/IANS)- US stocks traded mixed, as market sentiments were mixed due to rising hopes on global trade and concerns over bipartisan talks to avert another US government shutdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 53.22 points, or 0.21 percent, to 25,053.11 on Monday. The S&P 500 was up 1.92 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,709.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 9.71 points, or 0.13 percent, to 7,307.90, Xinhua news agency reported.

Shares of US aircraft manufacturer Boeing were on the rise throughout the day, amid growing hopes on the improvement of overall global trade environment.

Eight of the 11 primary S&P sectors extended gains after market close, with the industrials sector up 0.55 percent after the closing bell, leading the winners.

However, shares of Apple fell almost 1 percent around the closing bell, after iPhone shipments slumped 19.9 percent during the fourth quarter in China, according to a study by US market research company International Data Corporation on Monday.

More than a dozen of blue chips in the Dow extended losses on Monday, sinking the composite Dow index down into a red territory.

Among them, shares of Walt Disney and UnitedHealth Group slumped nearly 1.9 percent and over 1.8 percent respectively, leading the laggards.

Investors were closely watching a bipartisan meeting on Monday afternoon among key US lawmakers to search for clues on the direction toward which US economy is moving.

The move is meant to avoid another partial government shutdown by the deadline that US President Donald Trump previously set on Feb 15.

The meeting was scheduled after talks on border security funding failed between Democrats and Republicans on Sunday, due to a divergence on immigration enforcement rules.